Radio Listening

U.S. Senate: Mark Kennedy

SNAPSHOT Mark Kennedy announced his intention to run
for the Senate, just two days after incumbent Mark Dayton announced he would
not run for re-election. No one was surprised. Speculation that Mark Kennedy
would run for the U.S. Senate was been a mainstay of Minnesota politics since
late 2003. But first, Kennedy had to survive a challenge from Democrat Patty
Wetterling to hold on to his 6th District seat in Congress. Although it was
expected to be a close race -- Kennedy won by just 5 percent of the vote --
the Republican's strong showing may have caught notice of those who did not
think Kennedy had sufficient strength to wage a statewide campaign. The 6th
is a swing district and Wetterling was considered an extremely formidable
candidate.

Few members of the Minnesota congressional delegation
work harder to keep the support of the party faithful. During the 2004 Republican
National Convention in New York, Kennedy was the only member to court the
delegates on a daily basis. And they responded to the attention with a level
of enthusiasm that they seemed to have withheld from other Minnesota Republicans
with more national cachet.

Kennedy is considered an excellent face-to-face campaigner;
a trait often more valuable in congressional districts than statewide races.
But he's also shown an ability to raise cash. Democrats had hoped a tough
race against Wetterling would force him to spend money that might've gone
to the Senate race. It did. He raised more than $2.6 million through the end
of 2004, and used most of it in his re-election bid.

According to Project Vote Smart, Kennedy's voting record rates favorably with the National Association of Wheat Growers (100%), the National Taxpayers Union (59%), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (93%), the Eagle Forum (80%), the Family Research council (92%) in 2005 rankings. He ranked unfavorably with NARAL (0%), the NAACP (26%), the National Association for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (-3%), the National Education Associatin (0%) , US PIRG (10%), the American Public Health Association (12%) and the Disabled American Veterans (20%). The National Journal says he voted more conservative in 2005 on economic, defense and foreign policy issues than 72 percent of representatives.
He did not return respond to Project Vote Smart's National Political Awareness Test.

In his September primary, Kennedy easily dispatched two Republican challengers, winning 90 percent of the Republican vote.

Education:B.A., St. John's, 1979. M.B.A,
University of Michigan, 1983.

Major political experience:Elected to the House in the 2nd
District in 2000, defeating DFL incumbent David Minge. Re-elected in 2002 in the newly drawn 6th district, by defeating Janet Robert,
57-35 percent. Defeated Patty Wetterling in 2004, 54-46
percent.

Campaigns are about candidates, issues, fundraising and strategy. But in the end, it's the voters who will decide the election. Eight voters who have made up their minds about the U.S. Senate race explain who they are supporting and why.
(Midday,
11/03/2006)

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kennedy
questioned the honesty of his Democratic opponent Amy Klobuchar
during a debate Sunday night, scaling up his rhetoric against her
with 10 days to go until the election.
(10/29/2006)

As his fellow Republicans around the country
try to distance themselves from the increasingly unpopular war in
Iraq, Minnesota Senate candidate Mark Kennedy is trying to turn the
issue on its head.
(10/24/2006)

Candidates in Minnesota's closely watched U.S.
Senate race clashed Sunday on issues such as Iraq and tax policy,
with the Republican candidate saying he stood by his vote to
authorize the war in Iraq.
(10/15/2006)

The Republican and Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate have radically difference approaches to tackling problems facing the nation's economy. Both want the deficit reduced, but would chart different courses to get there.
(10/12/2006)

Democrat Amy Klobuchar, Republican Mark Kennedy and Independence Party candidate Robert Fitzgerald have all proposed ways to provide more health insurance coverage by controlling the cost of health care.
(10/06/2006)